Blinding
by Chrissiemusa
Summary: Sequel to The Mountain I Climb. "The throbbing through her head, the tingling down her spine, the heaviness of her heart, it all pointed to one thing…all was not well in Cackle's Academy tonight."


**AN: Hey everyone, thank you for the support of my last song-fic 'The Mountain I Climb' here is the sequel, I hope you like it.**

**I do not own The Worst Witch or the song Blinding. They belong to Jill Murphy and Florence + The Machine respectively, I know more Florence but I just love them. Lyrics have been edited slightly and all errors are mine.**

**Enjoy.**

**Title: Blinding**

**Characters: Amelia Cackle and Constance Hardbroom**

* * *

_**Seems that I have been held, in some dreaming state**_

_**A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake**_

Amelia tossed and turned as a new wave of cold air intruded through her broken shutters. Grasping her quilt tightly in her hands the tired headmistress turned her back to the window, hoping to create a barrier of sorts, but nothing changed. Between when the air around her had become suddenly colder and her initial decision to retire for the evening, she had been sleeping peacefully, hardly ever stirring back into the confines of reality.

And so she had returned once more to the land of nod, where she was just a small girl walking around her families' estate and admiring the flowers. Everything was so peaceful and calm that she never wanted to awaken from this bliss. The sun shining above made her body feel much warmer than it was inside her physical reality but, at the same time, helped her to forget her troubles.

_**No kiss, no gentle word could wake me from this slumber**_

It was strange for the headmistress to be sleeping so soundly. Usually she had only gotten a few good hours each night, mostly brought on by exhaustion from the tiring day, and she hadn't had a truly beautiful dream like this for as long as she could remember. As strange as it sounded most of her dreams involved her teaching her students, or at the staff table, Constance delighting in the odd glass of red while they chatted about the old days and ignored Miss Bat's sudden outbursts.

But she hadn't dreamt about being a child, an innocent little girl, since she was a teenager.

_**Until I realised that it was you who held me under**_

And that was when she realised something was wrong. A cold chilly night, the girls sleeping in their beds ever so quietly, the entire castle seemed dull with any sort of life, almost as if…

_**Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids**_

Amelia jerked herself awake, sitting up inside her bed as she wiped her heavier-than-usual eyes and tried to make them focus. The darkness that had enveloped the room only cut through by the moonlight that shone through the cracks near her window. Silence the only thing in her ears. She peered through one of her shutters and saw the bats flying over the castle turrets as the wind blew through the trees in the distance. But she heard no sound. Wondering if she had gone momentarily deaf, Amelia blocked one ear and then the other, still she could hear nothing. Lighting cracked through the skyline and she realised that her previous assumption had been correct.

Muttering a spell under her breath, Amelia watched as the sparks danced from her fingertips and around the cold stone walls before she heard it. The lightning cracked, a storm was brewing outside, the wind howled through the forest as the bats screeched.

_**Shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs**_

Quickly the headmistress got to her feet, wondering whether an invasion was on her hands. A silent takeover planned by her sister Agatha. She couldn't exactly describe what she was feeling, the throbbing through her head, the tingling down her spine, the heaviness of her heart, but all of them pointed to one thing…all was not well within the castle's walls tonight.

_**No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone**_

Her dreams of her mother and father, even her sister before she took her wicked ways were all gone now and nothing but the academy's wellbeing was at the for front of her mind. She took the lantern that she kept in the corner of her room and, with a flick of her wrist, ignited the candle before pulling her knighting gown over her plump figure and warming her feet with a pair of slippers.

The journey down several corridors during a storm was never pleasant but she noticed, almost immediately, that as soon as she reached the steps, the silencing spell had been placed again. Another eruption of her magic removed the barrier, allowing the loud thunderous roar of the sky to shudder the walls.

_**No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden**_

She felt it again, only this time more seriously as she descended the stairs. Adrenaline began coursing through her veins and her fight or flight instincts came into play. She wondered what she would find, the castle taken over, her students outside in the bitter cold while she had been immune to it all, upstairs sleeping peacefully while the worst happened below.

She would never forgive herself if she hadn't been able to help them, her staff, and her students. At the bottom of the stairs she walked to her left and stopped, turning to look at her office door.

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love**_

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love**_

There was no going back now. Her dreams would have to wait as she waved her hand, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Nothing was amiss, every piece of paper was in its appropriate position, the door had indeed been locked which was a good sign, meaning no break and enter routine. Closing the door behind her Miss Cackle used the lanterns light to guide her safely to her chair. Then she saw it.

A letter; it sat innocently on the mahogany desk and Amelia instantly recognised the elongated and beautifully inscribed letters that only one person she knew could make. Constance Hardbroom. Picking up the letter she took a letter opener from her draw and carefully drew it through the letters thin paper shield. Once broken she unfolded the paper from within, noticing her deputy's clean and crisp folding lines before she started to read.

'_My Dear Friend Amelia,_

_Words cannot express the gratitude that I hold for you. Ever since I first arrived you have always treated me with respect and kindness, and I am forever indebted to you for that. Though, the reason I am writing this letter, is to resign._

_Cackle's Academy has always been my home but I recently received notification of a threat coming our way, one that I caused. And so, I have decided to resign in order to stop any of my past mistakes blemishing the academy's reputation for high standards and excellent teaching. I used a temporary silencing spell on the academy, so that I could slip away without a trace and or any unnecessary questions. I am sorry for deceiving you and leaving the way I am but believe me when I say that it is for the best. _

_I know that you will not understand the reasons I am doing this but I'm afraid a full explanation would take far more than a few letters, so suffice to say it is better that you know nothing in this instance than to know too much. You will find all the belongings in my room still intact, I came here with nothing and that is how I will leave. I apologise for the inconvenience this will cause and wish you, the staff and students all the best._

_Yours sincerely and with eternal gratitude,_

_Constance Hardbroom'_

The letter slipped silently from her hands as Amelia lifted the golden set of keys into her hands, releasing held breath of realisation at the same time, before staring at the candle's flame in utter disbelief.

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world**_

* * *

Constance's body slammed into the cold ice beneath her as Hecketty smirked and crossed her arms, disappearing briefly before showing up behind her. The crush of her shoes against the snow telling Constance's weak body that she was there but there was nothing she could do about it. Her mentor from hell raised her hands into the air and released a series of what looked like lightning bolts.

Constance's body twitched and turned as the sound echoed through her ears and the sky suddenly darkened even further. The stars covered with cloud and the moon barely shining through. When it stopped she heard Mistress Broomhead's footsteps until they were directly in front of her.

_**And I could hear the thunder and see the lightning crack**_

The sudden storm enraged behind her Mistresses head instantly reminding her of the day she opened the door to her house and everything changed. It had been a stormy night then too, when her world was thrown into chaos and when her experiences with Hecketty Broomhead became legendary.

Though, suddenly, Hecketty's eyes turned from her tired pupil to the Castle and Constance followed. She saw a light, shining from the Headmistresses office.

_**All around the world was waking, I never could go back**_

"Well, well, well," Hecketty tutted. "Who on Earth would be up at this hour of the night, hmm?" Constance moved her shaking hands and released a strong blast of her magic, sweeping the older witch off her feet and into the tree just meters away.

"Don't you even think about it," Miss Hardbroom snarled, like a dog in protection of its owner. The entire reason she left the way she did was to protect them all and having Hecketty even think about hurting anyone within its walls drove her to the edge. She couldn't return no matter how hard she wanted to, and Hecketty Broomhead wasn't going to either.

"I didn't say anything, Constance," Her calm and yet menacing voice replied as she straightened herself and staggered slightly forwards. Removing the odd leaf from her hair and brushing the snow from her shoulders. "I was merely wondering who was up at this late hour of the night. Surely you didn't tell anyone about our meeting?"

"No," Miss Hardbroom answered, standing to her feet and carefully finding her balance. She cursed herself for appearing so weak, now was not the time for weakness, it was the time for strength. Sparks danced between her fingers, just waiting for another chance to blast the witch into oblivion but she needed to pick her moment carefully. "The only reason I came here was to stop you."

"Stop me?" Hecketty chuckled. "From what… Connie?"

"Don't you dare call me that! You have no right to use that name!"

"Why not? It was your name wasn't it? Before we met?"

"Before you killed my family you mean."

"A minor formality," Broomhead wiped away. "You have been living in a dream Constance, a nice dream, but a dream none the less. And I think it's about time you woke up!" Hecketty's quick release of magic caught Constance slightly off guard but she was more than ready to defend herself. The shield rose just in time, absorbing the magic coming its way. The potion mistress gritted her teeth together, telling her body to just keep on standing; to keep on fighting even though all it wanted to do was give into the darkness slowly clouding her vision. Fall asleep on the cold snow under the stars and rest in peace knowing that she had saved the Castle. Knowing that everyone she cared for was safe.

_**Cos all the walls of dreaming, they were torn right open**_

She had been so naïve. Maybe Mistress Broomhead had a point, maybe all of this running and hiding away was actually doing more harm than good. Maybe she needed to face her fears, to wake up from the dream that she had been in and realise what lay out before her; the future that she could have in the magical world…but she stopped her train of thought.

Amelia, Imogen, Davina, the students, they were who mattered the most; they were the ones who cared. It was people like Hecketty Broomhead that made the world a hazardous place, one that she had warned her girls time and time again about.

She couldn't rest, not yet, not knowing that as long as long as her worst nightmare could stand that she could invade and destroy the home and people she loved.

_**And finally it seemed that the spell was broken**_

Hecketty stumbled backwards, dropping her arms and taking a deep breath, her exhalation creating a small cloud of mist that pranced in the moonlight before disappearing. Her eyes were tired, her body obviously feeling the same as her own but she couldn't be sure.

Constance forced her hands together, entrapping all of the manifested magic her tutor had sent her way. "Now it's my turn." One final step forwards and she forced her hands to release. The explosion of magic from her fingertips lifted the heavy snow particles and blasted them in all directions, returning the green grass below to its former glory while the unprotected witch before her was released a scream so shrill and loud that it echoed through the woods.

Then nothing but silence. The storm dissipated, lightning slowly faded to nothing as the rolling thunder grew further and further away. Constance's knees met the cool grass below before she fell to her side, finally giving in and allowing the sleep that she never managed by herself to take control.

* * *

_**And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open**_

Amelia stood to her feet, listening to the storm outside begin to fade to nothing and then a scream. It pierced through the night and sent chills up her spine. Her very bones felt like they were shaking and her eyes remained so focused, so open, that she didn't even blink before she raced outside and into the bitter cold. Waving her hand her attire changed instantly, her traditional black shoes now replacing her slippers, her witches cloak instead of her nightgown and her witches hat atop her head.

Rushing into the Broomshed she fumbled through the dark to try and locate her familiar brush but had no success. Instead her hand rested on another broom and, thinking nothing of it, she mounted and commanded it to hover straight away. Soaring over the trees she looked down, hoping to find her missing deputy. She might have resigned but Amelia needed an explanation this time and that scream, that howling almost demon like scream, she needed to find out what happened. She needed to know that she was at the very least alive.

But then she saw the carnage, the circular green break in the ice and snow, the tree that had almost been entirely incinerated and the small black figure, lying motionless at the centre.

_**And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open**_

The moment her feet touched the ground she dropped the broom and ran. She didn't care how much her joints screamed in protest, how long it would take her to recover from pulling a muscle in her leg, all that mattered now was lying in a heap. "Constance!"

_**No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone**_

_**No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden**_

"Constance?" She landed on the grass and started feeling for a pulse. Luckily she found one but, upon looking at her deputy's now burnt and bleeding hands, and the destruction around them, she wondered what had happened. Who has she been fighting? "Constance, can you hear me?" There was no reply, just the cold wind licking at the back of her neck and making her spine shiver.

"If you can hear me squeeze my hand," she instructed, hoping that her words would be able to pull her colleague back into the real world.

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love**_

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love**_

She felt it, a slight grip around her fingers and smiled before releasing the cloak from her shoulders and wrapping it around her cold form. "You're going to be okay," she whispered, hoping that the tears in her eyes weren't audible with her words. "You're going to be okay."

_**No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world**_

* * *

Constance opened her eyes slowly, blinking them several times to adjust to the light. She lifted her left hand to her head, to try and stem the pain coming from her left temple but instead of feeling her fingertips she felt bandages. Focusing more she realised that her hand had been bandaged and, upon trying to lift the other, realised she couldn't.

_**Snow White's stitching up the circuit boards**_

Sleeping in a chair next to her; with one hand on her own, was Amelia. She looked exhausted, worried, her glasses were slanted across her face and the imprint of them against her forehead made her look rather silly. Clearing her sore and raspy throat made the headmistress lift her head, inhale a sudden breath and rub her eyes. "Constance," she smiled. "It's good to see you're awake."

"What happened? How long have I been-?"

"It's been a month Constance." Her eyes widened, she noticed that Morgana was sleeping in the corner of her room, letters and cards were on her dresser, even a beautiful arrangement of flowers in the next corner. "But what about-"

"I've had Gabrielle fill in for you; she's still in between jobs but couldn't wait to work with Mildred and the others. Everything is fine, the staff and students included." Amelia's gaze drew distant as she took a folded note from her pocket and held it to her friend. "Do you remember this?"

Constance's bandaged hand took the paper and unfolded it, reading the words slowly, tears filling her eyes at the very sight of the words she had written what felt like only hours ago. She nodded.

_**Synapse slipping through the hidden door**_

"Constance, why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because it's complicated, you won't understand!" Constance retorted, closing her eyes as the outburst irritated the migraine further.

"Try me, tell me what's going on and I will try and understand, I really will. For so long I have kept silent, never voiced my concerns but Constance you scared me," Amelia looked to the floor, taking the glasses away from her face and putting them on the night table beside the bed. "When I saw you, lying on the ground like that, I thought you were dead. So I think I deserve an explanation. What happened?" Constance parted her lips and was about to shake her head at the same time when Amelia interrupted. "And don't you tell me that it was nothing or that everything was alright because it wasn't."

"Mistress Hecketty Broomhead…that's what happened," Constance sighed, hoping that Amelia would back off but her distinctive glare wasn't going to give her room to move anytime soon.

_**Snow White's stitching up the circuit boards**_

"When I first arrived here at Cackle's I was running away from my past but Hecketty Broomhead wasn't going to give up. The day that she was assigned our school for the inspection was the day she found me, after all these years she had finally done it. Her next inspection; and we all remember what happened then, foiled her plan once more," Constance's head sunk. "I brought all of this to the academy and you Amelia, never asked for any of it. So when I was contacted by her a couple of days ago I didn't know what to think. She told me that she wanted to talk but I knew there was more to it than that. Mistress Broomhead doesn't do talking."

Amelia nodded her head in acknowledgement, understanding the witches determined nature to get whatever she wanted, when she wanted it. "So I decided to take it all on my own…you haven't heard from her, have you?"

"No," Amelia shook her head. "I'm afraid that no one has. But the guild has been notified of her attempts on the school and a permanent barrier was put up last week. I also had Davina put an enchantment on the mailbox outside, to permanently destroy any letters coming from that vile woman."

"You shouldn't have to do all this for me."

"I want to." The kind headmistress leant forwards, taking Constance's hand in her own again and looking deeply into her eyes. "I do not know what you have been through, and I know that, whatever it is, you will tell me when you are ready…but I have another question for you," she smiled, looking at the letter on her bed sheets. "Should I burn that?"

"You would really keep me employed?" Constance asked, her eyes masked with an overwhelming sense of belonging. "After all the danger and worry I've caused?"

"You are my deputy Constance, you are my friend and you are my family. We spend more hours locked inside these walls with each other than we can possibly count, which makes us more than colleagues, more than friends. And I want you at my side for the rest of this school year and any others to come. But the decision is entirely yours."

"You know…" Constance smiled. "I would make it disappear if not for these." She lifted her hands and Amelia chuckled, taking the paper into her hand and igniting the corner, watching the flame envelop the parchment before it disappeared into nothingness.

_**Snow White's stitching up the circuit boards**_

As Amelia stood to her feet and moved to the door she stopped just short of exiting. "And Constance about the-"

"I know," she replied. "No more magic for selfish or trivial purposes."

"No," Amelia shook her head and Constance's smile drooped slightly. "Just, next time you decide to cover the school in a spell, can you make it a warming one?" Constance chuckled, immediately regretting it as her ribs cried out in revenge. But it was all worth it.

_**Synapse slipping through the hidden door**_

**THE END**


End file.
